Lawyers make opening statements in Broomfield auto shop murder trial

The murder trial for Lawrence Crouch, pictured at a court appearance in January, got under way on Tuesday in Broomfield District Court. Defense attorneys argued Crouch planned only to kill himself on Oct. 12, while prosecutors argued he had planned the killing of East of Sweden Saab repair shop employee Mary McGrath for a year.
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CLIFF GRASSMICK
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Mary McGrath was shot and killed on Oct. 12, 2012 at East of Sweden Saab repair in Broomfield. Friends and family said she did not have a mean bone in her body.
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Lawyers on Tuesday made opening statements in the murder trial of Lawrence Crouch, who is accused of fatally shooting Mary McGrath at East of Sweden Saab in Broomfield repair last year.

Crouch has pleaded not guilty, even though an arrest affidavit indicates he told investigators that on Oct. 12 he killed McGrath, a former roommate and an employee at East of Sweden, for "stress relief."

Defense lawyers argued Crouch had hit rock bottom and had meant to kill himself, not McGrath. The prosecution argued Crouch clearly planned the murder a year in advance and saw McGrath as a deliberate target.

The trial is expected to continue throughout the week in Broomfield district court.

Defense attorney Kristin Johnson told the jury that Crouch was suicidal on the day of the shooting. With less than $300 in his bank account and no close friends or family, Crouch had originally planned to walk into East of Sweden to kill himself in front of Bob Wisdom, his best friend and former roommate who owned the repair shop, she said.

The two hadn't spoken in a year, even though they were once very close friends. At the last minute, Crouch realized he couldn't shoot himself in front of his friend, she said.

"Somehow, the gun is going off, and it wasn't shooting Lawrence, it was shooting Mary," Johnson said.

Crouch still wanted to die after shooting McGrath, but couldn't bring himself to do it in Wisdom's presence, his attorney said. Out of desperation and to further destroy himself, he told police he had always planned to kill McGrath and another person, Amber Carr, Johnson said.

Prosecuting attorneys, however, said Crouch clearly planned McGrath's murder a year in advance and had gathered together necessary supplies — including extra rounds of ammunition and a bomb made of gin and soap — to also kill Amber Carr, an employee at the extended-stay motel in Lakewood, where he lived.

Those who knew McGrath described her as kind and without a mean bone in her body.

Amy Beard, a prosecuting attorney in the case, told the jury Crouch deliberately planned McGrath's death because of their tense and negative past experiences with each other.

Crouch hadn't seen Wisdom in a year because of a falling out that involved McGrath, she said. Crouch and McGrath did not get along when they lived with Wisdom, so Wisdom asked both McGrath and Crouch to move out of the house, Beard said.

Crouch started planning the murder after he moved out, she said.

Though he had the ability to abandon his plans on Oct. 12, he still carefully planned the murder down to the last detail, including creating a bomb and packing plenty of extra ammunition, Beard said. He also took the battery out of his cell phone, because he believed it would make it hard for police to track him, she said.

His actions show that the murder was done not out of desperation, but after deliberation, Beard said.

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